cover image Liar of Kudzu

Liar of Kudzu

Bob Schooley, Mark McCorkle. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $15.99 (183pp) ISBN 978-1-4169-1488-4

The narrator of this sassy if slim debut book by the creators of the Disney Channel's Kim Possible series explains that he earned the nickname of Liar by being ""the finest truth bender in all of Dixon County."" He announces that the story he's about to tell-revealing events of the previous summer, when he was 12-is ""a good one."" And for the most part, it is. Liar humorously relays his botched attempts to impress Justine, a pretty classmate who has just moved to Kudzu. He offers to show her around the sleepy southern town and, while walking in the woods, the two see a fireball come crashing to the ground and discover that it's a mysterious spacecraft. The pair seeks out a ""scientific genius"" classmate and return to the spot the following day. The craft is gone, but they do find a gold CD containing reproductions of New York Times front pages from 1900 until September of the current year-but it's only May. The unevenly paced narrative makes too little of this time-warp handle until late in the novel, when Liar discovers an opportunity to prevent a rail disaster in Kudzu. The three friends try and succeed, landing them the appearance on Oprah that Liar has long dreamed of (during which he creatively embellishes his account of their heroics). And the feisty, fast-talking lad's other big wish comes true: he gets a kiss from Justine. Ages 10-14.